Saturday, May 4, 2013

"The Haunting in Connecticut 2: Ghosts of Georgia" Movie Review – The Ghosts of the Underground Railroad


Rating: R
Length: 100 minutes
Release Date: March 2013
Director: Tom Elkins

Lisa is, for all intents and purposes, a little fucked in the head. Not only does she occasionally see dead people, but she frequently sees her dead mother who seems to give her advice. When her daughter begins showing some similar signs, she and her husband Andy (Chad Michael Murray, "House of Wax") decide to buy a home in rural Georgia and move their daughter there. Joining them is Lisa's sister Joyce. Joyce and Andy have an antagonistic relationship, which leads to Joyce living in a camper outside of the main house.

Not long after they move to their new home, Heidi (the little girl) begins seeing people who aren't really there. She frequently talks about her new friend Mr. Gordy, but Lisa isn't sure if her daughter has an imaginary friend or sees a ghost. Andy discovers a few traps hidden deep in the woods surrounding their house, and they discover some unusual facts about the house from a local reverend. After discovering that their house was a stop on the Underground Railroad and that a former owner of the house helped slaves, they wonder if that has a connection to the odd things happening in the house. It doesn't help when they also discover that two slaves went missing along with a few other people over the years...

All right, so I loved "A Haunting in Connecticut." I heard whispers a few years ago about a potential sequel, so I was pretty excited to learn that it was finally coming out. My best friend, who watched the special on the actual Georgia haunting, was excited too. According to him, the film has almost nothing to do with the real story save for the mention of Mr. Gordy.

"The Haunting in Connecticut 2: Ghosts of Georgia" is a straight up straight-to-DVD film. While most of the film was dull enough that I found myself reaching for a book, it did have a few bright moments. Katee Sackhoff as Joyce was a nice touch. Joyce is the kind of crazy chick who you want as your best friend. She also sees things and inherited their mother's "gift," but she's perfectly fine with it. She encourages her niece to be happy even if she can see dead people, which is a nice change of pace from Lisa.

You know those horror movies where you want to see one specific character die quickly? Lisa was that character for me. She's been on so many different medications that she can barely cope with life, and yet the other characters in the film often leave her alone with her daughter or just decide that she'll probably be okay. The character is written so poorly that she comes across as someone who belongs in an institution, not out roaming the streets.

It does have a pretty cool scene towards the end that involves a woman pulling things from her mouth that connect to the ghosts of the house. It's hard to explain, and I don't want to ruin the film for anyone, but that was a pretty enjoyable little scene. The rest of the movie plays like something I've seen before.

The real problem with "The Haunting in Connecticut 2" is that it takes too long to get going. Heidi meets Mr. Gordy and starts talking about him fairly early in the film, but he has no connection to the actual haunting. There's far too much backstory and talking about what might happen before anything actually happens, and by the time the interesting moments start happening, the film is almost over. I can safely say that I'll probably forget about this one and never watch it again.

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